Chances are I'm probably going to reuse the majority of these pictures for my WM review
Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a new wrestling topic. We are just one day away from Wrestlemania: The grandest stage of them all, the biggest show in all of wrestling...or at least it's supposed to be. I say that because the build to this year's Wrestlemania has been one stinking steamy pile of HORSE SH--
But I'm getting ahead of myself folks. What I'm here to do today, is basically explain the biggest matches on this year's WM card and break down the build to some of these matches and give my thoughts and predictions on the victor. Note: The matches I discuss won't be in the same order as they will be in the Pay-Per-View.
First up, I suppose I should discuss the Kick-Off Show match for the Second Annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
This is an over the top rope battle royal that features multiple superstars and winner gets a big trophy. Here are the problems I have for this match. All throughout the Raws building up to Wrestlemania, this battle royal has been talked about as such this prestigious, important match and how it can help make a star out of the winner. Both of those facts are pure lies: first of all, let's bring up last year's Battle Royal winner Cesaro
This was such a great moment last year...then it all went to sh*t...
Now Cesaro won the Battle Royal last year, he displayed an incredible amount of strength when he effortlessly picked up the Big Show and tossed him outside of the ring and the crowd loved it and were behind him. The night following that Cesaro teamed up with Paul Heyman and it seemed that Cesaro was only going up from there, but what truly happened was that he was stuck in something fans call: "Midcard Hell" where he was just thrown in pointless matches that did little to nothing for him in his career or his character and it was impossible for him to get over. Sure, now he's in a tag team champion with Tyson Kidd but that doesn't replace everything that happened before. Another big issue I have is that this match is on the Kickoff show! It won't be on the actual event but is essentially just a warm-up. Very Prestigious this battle royal match is.
My third problem is that fact that the WWE threw away solo stories that were being built up and could've been single matches on the card in favor of just shoehorning the stars in this battle royal. Feuds such as Goldust vs Stardust and Miz vs Mizdow, feuds that could have been matches on their own were cast to the side in favor of having them in this match. That's not a smart move WWE.
Two days ago NXT, WWE's developmental branch, held a tournament that would have the winner in the Battle Royal. That winner was Hideo Itami. As for who I think will win this match, I predict that either Hideo Itami will win or that there'll be a surprise return by Sheamus and he'll win the battle Royal. My hopes for this match is that the winner of it won't go on to do nothing for the next year. If the WWE wants this match to be taken seriously as a career booster then they need to do something with the winner.
The Next Match I will be discussing is:
AJ Lee and Paige vs The Bella Twins
This match in particular is a very important match for a reason some might not be aware of. You see, last month, after a thirty second match, there was a movement that started in concerns to the WWE's women's wrestlers, that movement is known as: Give Divas a chance. Fans were tired of the women's matches seen as a bathroom break or something you could fix something to eat to while it plays in the background. The WWE has seemingly been listening to this as this match does have some decent build going towards it with longer matches that help tell a story for this feud, some of the best the WWE has had for their women's division in recent years. The story is very simple: The Bellas are essentially the Queen B's of the divas division and have been tormenting the other divas for some time and AJ and Paige want to stop that. Very small and simple but if the WWE wants to change the divas division, it's a nice place to start. The matches building towards WM 31 have also given Nikki Bella a chance to showcase her abilities in the ring and as much as it makes me want to regurgitate my lunch saying it, she has proven that she is a decent talent in the ring. Although I will never like her or her sister (Look up the videos 'Growing up Bella' and their interview with Jerry Springer on YouTube if you wonder why). That little tangent aside, I hope this match isn't the end of the give divas a chance movement. My prediction is that AJ and Paige come out of this the winners
Next up: Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins
This is match that has been built up for quite some time. Four months ago, Seth Rollins curbstomped Randy Orton's head into steel steps, putting Orton out of Action. It was last month during Fastlane when Orton returned. They way they built this feud when Randy returned was a little...questionable. When Randy returned, he rejoined the authority as a way to get Seth alone and pick him apart. The way the WWE wrote this was that this is essentially build up to Randy getting his hands on Seth, my problem is that the build up to that moment already happened four months ago and Randy's return was supposed to be the fallout of that moment when he came back. But this might be more nitpicking on my part.
But another issue I have with this feud is the way Seth Rollins has been written. For this feud, Seth has been written as, well Red Forman could put it better than I could...
Thanks Red
The whole time Randy was back in the Authority, Seth never thought for a mere second that Randy might have something up his sleeve, that he might just wait until Rollins was all alone before the totally predictable beat down? Hell, Randy even said the night the beat down happened that when Seth was by himself and had no one to protect him he was going to, and this is Randy's own words here, "Make Seth his Bitch" and then go around and say that he was joking.
Did it not occur once in Seth's mind that maybe Randy shouldn't be trusted, especially considering he tried shortening Orton's career? This is an especially glaring problem when you consider the fact that Seth Rollins is has been written in the past as a very smart heel. This is a guy who was built up as the glue that held the shield together. A guy who had the foresight to have Triple H put Dean Ambrose, a guy who had been coming out of nowhere and attacking him, in the Money in the Bank Ladder match just so Dean wouldn't show up during the match and do anything to screw him over. The fact that he didn't see this coming kind of hurts Rollins as a character.
Anyways, long winded speech aside, this is a very promising match between two incredbily talented wrestlers, my prediction is that Randy Orton comes out the victor of this match.
Next Up: The Intercontinental Title Ladder Match
Oh, I've got WORDS for this match...
Here's how this match was created (I'm not 100% sure HOW it even got to where it is) So it picked up where Dean Ambrose and Wade Barrett left off at Fastlane with Dean stealing Barrett's title, one Raw Barrett takes his title back, then one Smackdown R-Truth steals it...because R-Truth has been so relevant in the last three years. Then Luke Harper shows up for some reason and steals the IC title, then Stardust shows up and steals it because...the WWE said F**K Goldust vs Stardust for Wrestlemania. Then Dolph Ziggler steals the title because...reasons. And then a ladder match is announced because the WWE needed a reason to get the Wrestlers people really like ON the card. Then Daniel Bryan wants in on the match because he's not good enough to have his own single's match in the minds of the WWE.
If my explanation of the build to this match sounds moronic and nonsensical, that's because THE ENTIRE BUILD TO THIS MATCH IS MORONIC AND NONSENSICAL!! The weeks building up to this ladder match, the Intercontinental title picture turned into a game of hot potato. The whole 'everyone is walking off with the IC title' angle is treated as this comedic thing but it's not. It makes your champion look like a joke (It's also not helping that he loses matches every week), it makes everyone involved in this a joke, and it makes the title look as if it's nothing more than a silly prop. The worst part about this match is that it's gonna be great, probably even match of the night. But the storytelling has been so awful, you could have just thrown a bunch of guys together and have them fight over a rock and it would feel just as important as this ladder match.
It's funny because the WWE continuously SAY how important the IC title is in the WWE and how it can make stars, hell they even went as far as having legends like Shawn Michaels and Edge go on in interviews about it, and then posting it on their website. But this whole story, this build, for the match only confirms what fans have been saying FOR YEARS: The Intercontinental Championship, this title that was once a stepping stone for wrestlers to get into the main event scene, is nothing more than just a toxic in the WWE now. It kills the momentum and the stunts the career of whoever holds it. My Prediction is that Daniel Bryan will win, proving once and for all that no matter how much fans love him and chant yes, Daniel Bryan is only an afterthought in the mind of Vince Mcmahon.
NEXT: Triple H vs Sting
Now this is one of the matches I'm looking the most forward to simply because this is Sting's first match EVER in the WWE, and no matter how old he is, this is something to be extremely giddy about. This seeds for this match were planted all the way back in Survivor Series of last year when Sting showed up in the main event and helped Dolph Ziggler get the pin, putting Triple H and Stephanie Mcmahon out of power in the WWE and forcing them to leave (which proved to be pointless since they came back three weeks later...). The build to this match has been weird but interesting. Weird in the sense that throughout the majority of this feud, Triple H has been the one who's been talking and cutting promos. Up throughout the duration of the feud, Sting's only spoken twice (And one of those times was off air).
The story that has been told with this feud is that Sting comes to the WWE after fourteen years of never signing and wants to stop Triple H. What makes it so interesting is the use of WCW. Sting saw WCW go under because of people like Triple H, people with power who abused it and ruined a company and what made it special, and Sting doesn't want to watch the same thing to happen to another company...which is why he left TNA
Sorry, I had to do it...
While I'm not one hundred percent sure this match will be top quality, I know both of these guys will give it everything they have to have the best match possible; and considering the years of experience between the two of them, the ring psychology will definitely be there. My money is on the Stinger for this match.
Next on the list: Bray Wyatt vs the Undertaker
This feud is much like HHH and Sting in the sense that it's only been one guy talking while the other has been mute except in the case of this feud The Undertaker hasn't been seen.at all. The most we got was a recording of him saying "You will Rest In Peace." The story has been interesting though as it plays off of what happened last year when Taker lost to Brock Lesnar, ending his undefeated Wrestlemania streak. Bray Wyatt at a time worshiped the Undertaker and wants to bring the Deadman back to his former glory just so he can end him himself. The story is definitely an intriguing one with Bray Wyatt cutting some of the best promos he's ever done but unfortunately, it just doesn't do anything for me. I think it might just be me unable to allow myself to be sold on this story because of what happened last year. The match will probably be alright, I highly doubt that it'll be as bad a match as last year considering that Bray Wyatt actually knows how to carry someone in a match and not throw them around forgetting how old they are and almost kill them. My money is on Taker. I'm getting the distinct feeling that next year, the WWE wants to do Sting vs Undertaker (And by that point no one will care about that match happening...) and they want them both to have a win going into the match.
Next we have: John Cena vs Rusev For the United States Title.
The 'Murican John Cena takes on the big bad Foreign monster Rusev, that's the build to this match in a nutshell. If it seems like I don't care about this match, it's because I don't. The foreign, America hating character is so old and overdone at this point in the WWE. Plus if they're match at Fastlane is any indication, this match will be a total snooze fest. Not to mention is the same thing that happens with every big heel: He has so much momentum in the world only to get fed to John Cena and then have his career plummet down into a giant pile of nothing. It happened to Bray Wyatt last year, it happened to R-Truth when he turned heel, it happened to Ryback when he turned Heel. If you are a heel and you face John Cena, you're career will be stunted for two to three years or you'll be lucky like Bray Wyatt and only do F**K all for a year. My prediction: Super Cena shows up and with his attitude adjusting heat vision will win and kill any sort of potential for Rusev (which wasn't much to begin with considering his sh*t character). As a matter of fact, I have so little faith that Rusev will win that if he does, I will watch the first season of Total Divas.
Last But Not Least, The Main Event
Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Boy oh boy, this match. THIS MATCH. This is the worst build to a WWE world title match I have ever seen. I never thought I would see a build worse than John Cena and the Rock for Wrestlemania 29, but by some holy miracle. The WWE managed to top that.
How did this match come to be? It's real simple, Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble, but because the fans both in live crowds and on the internet were like:
The WWE put Roman up against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, the winner facing Brock Lesnar. A match which Roman won.
My problem with the build to this "feud" is the build itself which has just been Paul Heyman delivering promos. Don't get me wrong, these are PHENOMENAL promos, some of, if not, the best I've ever heard in my entire time watching wrestling and I want Brock Lesnar to win this match JUST to keep Paul Heyman on T.V. but the problem in that lies in the fact that it's just that: One guy cutting promos, and when one guy has to carry an entire feud, a feud for your main title, on your biggest show no less, something is seriously wrong. The Champion and Challenger have only been face to face with each other twice other the duration of the feud and the second time they did, they ended up having a tug of war over the title belt. No seriously, they had a tug of war, it's practically become a meme at this point
Hey come on man, you had a turn with it already
Let's address another elephant in the room here and talk about the challenger Roman Reigns. I've had a big problem with the way they've booked Roman, they try to paint Roman as this sympathetic underdog, a guy who's constantly told by the critics he isn't ready to main event Wrestlemania, that he doesn't deserve it and constantly told that he can't beat Brock Lesnar. Now there's nothing wrong with that, except Roman's answer is him feebly saying: "You know, you're allowed to have your opinion but I can beat Brock Lesnar. I can and I will." I honestly hate what the WWE is doing with this guy. If by some odd coincidence some in the WWE is reading this blog: If you wanted to have an underdog story going into Wrestlemania, YOU SHOULD HAVE PICKED DANIEL BRYAN TO WIN THE ROYAL RUMBLE!
On top of that, Roman Reigns hasn't been given a lot of material that would make fans say: "Yeah, this guy can beat Brock Lesnar". Brock has been one of the most dominant heels in the WWE ever: He ended The Undertaker's streak, something that was said to be impossible, he suplexed John Cena on his head SIXTEEN times, he was an unstoppable monster in the Royal Rumble. What do you give Roman Reigns? Constant matches with the Big Show and Kane and matches where he gets beaten by a schoolboy roll up. Sure, Roman's had some good moments on the road to Wrestlemania, but none of which have convinced that this guy is ready to main event a Wrestlemania (Not to mention the way he's been booked). They're trying SO DESPERATELY hard to make him this generic cookie cutter good guy like John Cena was but look at the guy!
Does this look like some hand shaking, baby kissing guy to you? NO!!!
Roman Reigns is 6'3, he can look Brock Lesnar SQUARE in the eye! This feud should've been Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar done right: Two very physically imposing men who are at the top of their game clashing against one another. I know WWE is sick of this meme, and I'm convinced it played a part in how Roman was booked during WM, but if this was gonna be the main event for WM, you should've made Roman look strong. All this did was show that you didn't have one hundred percent faith in the guy. And if you don't have complete faith in him, why should the fans?
For the longest time I assumed that it was a forgone conclusion that Roman Reigns was walking out of Wrestlemania with the WWE World Heavyweight championship with a possible Rollins cash in but this past week broke the news that Brock Lesnar wouldn't be returning to the UFC and has resigned with the WWE. This leaves brand new possibilities for the ending to the main event and makes it that much more interesting. Some people think that Brock Lesnar is now going to walk out the main event still champion, some think Paul Heyman will turn on Brock and will now team with Reigns and Reigns will win.
My prediction for the main event of Wrestlemania is that the news of Brock resigning with the WWE is just some cheap trick to get fans to doubt Reigns winning at Wrestlemania. I predict Reigns will win cleanly as a face and Seth Rollins will cash it in.
Overall, Wrestlemania 31 has been one of the worst overall builds to a Wrestlemania I've seen a part of. The shows building up to it felt like the WWE has completely forgotten that this was Wrestlemania season. I seriously hope that the show turns out good, because they really need this year to be a knock out of the park.
Til next time folks, I'm the Shaman of Animation. Take care...
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